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Five More Uighurs Sentenced To Death In China

By RTTNews Staff Writer   ✉   | Published:   | Follow Us On Google News
rttnewslogo20mar2024

A court in China's Xinjiang region has sentenced five more Uighurs to death over deadly ethnic riots that rocked the country's western parts in July.

The Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, tried 22 people in five cases and sentenced five to death.

Five others were also sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and jailed another eight for life, a spokesman for the Urumqi city government said.

A death sentence with a two-year reprieve is often commuted to life in prison if the convicted person behaves during the two years.

It was unclear what charges had been brought against them.

The sentences, reported on Thursday, bring to 22 the number of people condemned to die over the unrest, which saw mainly Muslim Uighurs--members of a Turkic minority in China that calls Xinjiang their homeland--attack members of China's Han ethnic majority, leaving nearly 200 people dead, mostly the latter.

Thursday's sentencing came after five Uighurs were sentenced to death for murder and other crimes earlier this month in connection with the July unrest.

It also came after Cambodia on Saturday deported 20 Uighurs, who had sought asylum there after fleeing the unrest in Xinjiang, despite strong protests from the U.S. and the United Nations.

Beijing called the Uighurs 'suspected criminals' and defended their forced return, saying it was in line with immigration law.

China had announced last month that nine Uighurs were executed for taking part in the July ethnic rioting that left nearly 200 people dead and 1,700 others injured in the Communist nation's worst ethnic violence in decades.

A total of 34 people have been convicted for the rioting, as also for crimes including murder, arson, property damage and robbery.

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